Taking a leaf out of BlackBerry Messenger, Google’s Huddle and Apple’s upcoming iMessaging, Samsung is set to launch a ‘Samsung-only’ mobile IM service, it calls ChatON. This IM service will be available across Samsung’s smartphones and feature phones as well as a web interface for chatting via a PC. Users will be able to share texts, images, hand-written notes and videos via this service. ChatON will also have group chatting feature. Hit the break for more features and the complete press release.

Samsung introduces ChatON mobile communication service

- Samsung ChatON is the fun and free global communication service that enables content and conversation to be shared between all major mobile devices

Korea, August 29, 2011 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a leading mobile phone provider, today announced the launch of ChatON, a free mobile communication service that allows users to communicate instantly with any mobile phone.

ChatON is Samsung’s global mobile communication service that works across all major smartphone and feature phone platforms. ChatON lets users interact with friends and family, regardless of device platform – functionality across multiple platforms lets all users join in, with text, images, hand-written notes and video shared instantly. Users can chat in groups, while a Web client will allow the easy sharing of content and conversations between mobile and PC.

“With ChatON, Samsung has vastly simplified mobile communication by allowing users to connect to our upcoming feature phones and all major Smartphones in the market,”said Ho Soo Lee, Head of Media Solution Center at Samsung Electronics. “Users around the world can now enjoy easier and richer interactivity with whoever they want, in the format they want—this is mobile communication reinvented and democratized.”

ChatON, which is available in more than 120 countries supporting up to 62 languages, features two functionality options. A basic functionality option is available for feature phone users who prefer simple and easy usage, allowing users to share text, pictures, calendar, contacts and emotions through an easy-to-access client.

Smartphone users can enjoy advanced feature options, enabling richer communication by allowing users to see how often they communicate with their buddies using the Interaction Rank feature and post comments on buddies’ profile pages. Users can also create an ‘Animation message’ which allows them to create their own content by scribbling texts, adding audio and choosing their background pictures. All photos and videos in each conversation window can be viewed in an automatically-generated content sharing ‘Trunk’.

ChatON allows users to join and grow their social communities, socializing instantly and flexibly through their mobile device. Users can enjoy the benefits of ChatON globally, with free and easy communication possible with friends and family anywhere in the world.

Samsung ChatON will be made available gradually across all major Smartphones, Tablets, notebook PCs and Samsung feature phones, including forthcoming devices showcased at IFA 2011.

We have not had official confirmation of the news yet but it seems that Nimbuzz Ping – the feature that lets you get a notification from the IM via a text message even if the app is not running – is now working in India. Nimbuzz’s official website lists Aircel and Idea as the networks in the country supporting Ping, and one of our friends who uses an Aircel handset says that the feature is working just dandy for him. For those who do not know, Nimbuzz Ping is a feature that lets Nimbuzz users get notifications via text messages when they are not logged into the messenger or when their handset is not capable of supporting push notifications. In simple terms, you can find out that one of your friends has pinged you online via a text message – very handy for those who do not have smartphones. Nimbuzz Ping works on both Java and Symbian handsets as of now. We think it is pretty cool for those who do not have smartphones or heck, even just want to save battery by not having an app running in the background ALL the time. Now, we are waiting for that official confirmation! In the meantime, you can find out more about Nimbuzz Ping here.